Thursday, January 8, 2009

Have you heard of the game Hachi Koi? Most likely not, unless you live in/have immense interest in Japanese culture/games, or you hang out in places where fat women aren't talked poorly about, but certainly aren't as empowered as the FA or feminist movements intend for them to be. Hachi Koi is a game made for the Nintendo DS that is similar to a dating simulator, but with a twist. Technabob.com described it in the following manner:

In Hachi Koi, the young male protagonist learns that he’s going to die in one month–unless he can fall in love and convince one of the title’s hapless, caressable ladies to return his feelings.

From a feminist point of view, already this game seems like most other dating sims, in that it does little more than objectify the women in the game. Of course, if you really wanted to become involved in a real, emotionally fulfilling relationship, I doubt you would play a game to do that, so it makes sense to me that dating sims would objectify to an extent. But in this one, it takes it a step further, in that the way that you seduce these women is by doing things such as rubbing suntan lotion on them, and bringing them things that make them happy. But this doesn't even begin to cover the more important aspects of this game that, whether or not you might find something wrong with them, they are certainly worthy of mention and discussion.

First off, we have this lovely cast of ladies, as found on the front page of the Hachi Koi site:And, credit being given once again to Technabob.com (as I am unsure of where that site found this series of pics), here are four which are especially important to make note of.Again, from a feminist POV, I would like to point out how the girl with the largest breasts is treated... Her larger chest seems to also come complete with the most sexualized outfit of these four (hearts and garter belt on her lacy socks; low-cut shirt; 'come hither' stare) and definitely has the most sexualized pose of the four pictured above. Of course, I'm sure I don't need any real lead in to what I'm about to say, as you've all been thinking it since first noticing these pictures, but here's my transition sentence anyway.

They include a plus sized girl. Or, as I would refer to her in casual, non-threatening and without any real need to go over the top with completely PC terms, a fat chick. And, much to my surprise, she's rather adorable! Pink hair, shy smile, well drawn and clean, and an absolutely adorable apple shape. But with her, and my fat acceptance beliefs, I suddenly am uncertain of what to think of this game from a strictly FA POV.

On the one hand, as stated before, they portray her as pretty and cute, which is a definite step-up from how other places seem to treat larger girls. But, as you might have been clued into from the first image, they portray her as always eating. Even on her character page she is seen with food by her. Compared to the other girls, she is the only one who has the food as your interactive option. The others have more playful things (and in some cases more feminist-unfriendly things, like the girl who changes into the cheerleading outfit for her action) like basketballs and horses, whereas this girl, Kurumi, has food that, when dragged to her mouth, illicits an almost sexual response, with little moans or Japanese that sounds as if it was spoken right after an epic orgasm. Yet, even on her page, she looks like a more accurate portrayal of fat people than we usually get, in that her weight isn't being completely showcased in a negative or slobby manner, although it is used to set her apart from the others. Another thing worthy of note on her page is the fact that her measurements are hidden by a look of embarrassment:(alongside another girl's page to show that it is in fact the measurements that are hidden)

I just have to wonder, is it this way because of the stereotype of larger girls being ashamed/embarrassed about their weight? Or is she being portrayed in such a manner to either have 'you' (the player of the game) boost her self esteem so that she is either a) finally happy with her weight or b) willing to lose the weight? Maybe I'd have more insight if my major was Japanese instead of German.

My guess as to the nature of Kurumi? I would like to think that she is there for the purpose of giving the player a wide variety of girls to 'play' with, and for one reason or another they decided to include a plus sized girl with a tendency towards, dare I say, feederism. Now, I'd rather not get into a feederism debate with my lovely commenters just yet, as there shall be another post not far from now discussing it in as much of detail as I can gather. Anyway, back on topic, to be perfectly honest, I am unsure of how to feel about this game overall.

Pros

There is a chubby girl

Said chubby girl is portrayed in a visually nice way

Unlike most dating sims, this gives the player many options

It puts a somewhat positive portrayal of a fat person into a positive (?) light

It seems as though the fetish of feederism is an option where it normally is not

Cons

Women are reduced to simply that: fetishes and appearances

Women fall in love with the player by being rubbed

The fat girl is portrayed with a lust for food (positive for some fat admirers, negative for the fat acceptance movement)

The fat girl succumbs to another stereotype: shame

For the sake of being perfectly honest, I still don't know what exactly to feel about this game, as stated above. It all depends from what aspect of myself I view it, assuming of course that we do know what this game is about, and aren't relying on other (possibly incorrect) translations and such. As a feminist, I dislike this game. As a realist, I understand that dating sims are usually going to be anti-feminism, as it degrades both genders as sex objects. As a fat acceptance blogger, I dislike Kurumi's portrayal as a fat girl. As a fat admirer and, dare I say, casual feedee, this gives more options to normally limited games, in that you can live out a variety of fantasies, including feeding a girl who may or may not grow (...;D) to love her looks.

So what do you, my readers out in cyberspace think of this game? What about Kurumi and her portrayal?

Also, before I head out... Found this on the main site: (drag the bagel-like thing to her mouth)http://www.hachikoi.com/special/download.html (Script doesn't seem to work here ;A;)

282
comments:

From a feminist angle, I just don't feel that pressed to explore it. Examining Japanese Dating Sims for trends in size acceptance and feminism is kind of like counting the dead pidgeons in your gutter to determine the health of local wildlife and changing migratory patterns.

If I do look at it that way, which I must if I am to provide useful blog commentary, I see the food thing as inherently neutral or hopelessly obscured by subjectivity. It is portrayed essential as something sexy to do: busty girl dresses up like cheerleader, short girl gets lotion rubbed on her, fat girl is fed. From a feminist standpoint, it's just as good or bad as the other activities. From a size acceptance and/or fat acceptance standpoint, you will get out of it whatever you put into it. You can look at it as weight bigotry or as fetish activity, or as both.

The thing that really gives me a problem, TBH, is the measurements shame. It's the only thing I find to be real contextually negative. A japanese dating sim is a japanese dating sim, take it or leave it, something for slow lonely evenings and horny mid-mornings, and all the love by rubbing and objectification is something more or less inherent to the medium. The shame, however, is a problem. It sets her apart from all the other girls in an unequivocally negative way. It shows that, whether the player sees her weight as positive or negative, she sees it as a bad thing. I doubt that the goal of the game is to make her lose weight if one of the activities is feeding, but that is just one thing that cannot bode well.

PS: I'd also like to draw attention that struck me as unappealing in the very beginning of the description, the word "hapless". Why are they hapless girls? Is it just an odd translation of "single" or "lonely," or does it imply that each of the female characters has some kind of insecurity or flaw which the player needs to overcome?

PPS: "Women fall in love with the player by being rubbed" made me laugh xD

While I sigh in dismay at the "constant eating" aspect (even while being pleased that at least she's datable, I've seen complaints on forums regarding cute fat girls eating doughnuts constantly in the background od other games that COULDN'T be pursued) I have to admit I don't entirely understand the feminist outrage about dating sims.

Yes, women are somewhat objectified and turned into goals. But dating sims treat women much BETTER than the majority of video games.

In many, many video games, especially old-school ones, all you have to do to land a girl is kill some monsters. Then you are rewarded with a princess. She doesn't know or care who you are. You know nothing about her either. But she's a GIRL and she's your REWARD for doing well. Go you!

In even the very WORST dating sims, you have to expend some effort making the girl actually LIKE you. Whether that is by getting to know her and having meaningful conversation or simply by constantly complimenting her and giving her expensive presents, there is still a lot more angle of woman-as-active-participant rather than woman-as-shiny-bauble.

I am very much a feminist, and I loves me some video games. I also like dating sims, both girl-dating and boy-dating ones. :)

one way or another, she's cute and I would only be very offended if the fat girl was somehow easier to get or desperate. Like you go after the sexy girl after you beat the game once on easy by getting the fat one. Looking at dating sims in general, I'm happy to see a fat girl in there and like you said displayed favorably. Either way I'll probably be drawing her :)

Woah. Without the feeder fetish I would consider this a huge leap forward (a fat girl considered attractive just like any other of the attractive girls!), but with it, not so much. Fat girls are a weird fetish and the only reason you'd like them is to play feeder fetish.

You may have also heard of Love Revolution, the Japanese dating sim for girls where the female protagonist loses weight, becomes pretty, and falls in love. It was popular enough to be ported to the Nintendo DS. Vomit!

They get points for her cuteness, but I am squicked by the constant eating thing although I am not surprised. The shame thing is also to be expected coming from Japan, which is the land of the government generated 'Metabo Disorder'.

I do love the character design, she's very cute. A lot of how you'd analyse it from a feminist light would need you to play the game first, where the language barrier becomes a problem. Since it's a H-game though, it'll probably be a bad protrayal. The girls who's a little overweight but adorable and overeats is a stereotype I've seen a few times, the character is normally obsessed with dieting too. Hiro from hidamari-sketch is a good one (though that character is illustrated as thin).

It's interesting to see just how permeant virtual memory has become in our lives. It's like everywhere I turn, I see something with a card slot or USB port . I guess it makes sense though, considering how cheap memory has become as of late...

Ahhh, who am I to complain. I can't make it through a day without using my R4 / R4i!

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